The “F-Word”: Forsaken

Psalm 22:1-2: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?”

 

Often, I meet people whom in our conversations, express, “I feel like God has forsaken me”. I am sure that anyone’s immediate response would be the same as mine: the question, “Why do you feel that way?” There was one woman, whom I will call Cindy for the sake of privacy, who explained her reasons for feeling abandoned by God. She suffered immense abuse as a young black queer woman, in her adolescence. Speechless, I simply offered a hug.

In that moment, I felt the presence of God. It was not I who was hugging Cindy, but God. “Actions speak louder than words”, people say. It means that the weight of what we do may have a bigger impact than what we say. While growing up she had heard that God loved her and that God’s presence would be with her, but she could not see that in action due to hurt caused by others. It was time for Cindy to see what God’s love feels like, to know that people may forsake us but God’s love gives us the hope to continue in life and that it does get better.

If God pulled our strings, like puppets, and forced us to do things, even good, that would not be love. Forcing someone into a relationship isn’t love. To love is to allow someone’s choice.  Unfortunately, people make bad choices and go down dark paths because they were not able to learn that pain does not have to dictate character. The consequences of bad choices affect us, and others. But you can be different because God loved you so much you were able to make it through the darkness.

The light we may spend our entire lives searching for was always inside. Next time you look up and say, “God, why have you forgotten me?” remember God has not forgotten you; God is being your strength in place of your weariness.